


Embracing Eternity's Daughter

by HidingFelix



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Liara has a baby, No Shepard without Vakarian, Shepard is already gone, The EDI/Joker is really just alluded to, This has probably been done before
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 08:59:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11825388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HidingFelix/pseuds/HidingFelix
Summary: Liara has to make a painful confession to Garrus.Set about a year and a half after ME3, with Shepard having chosen the "Control" ending. May add on more later.





	Embracing Eternity's Daughter

Garrus took a deep breath and sat down at the dining room table. Everyone had gone off to bed, but he was still glad for all the company. In the year and a half since Shepard had died—or whatever it was she did exactly to control the reapers—the huge apartment had been empty. 

People had stayed over, the first few weeks. Everybody from Normandy grieving together. But they’d all had places to get back to, to help rebuild. Thessia, Rannoch, Sur’Kesh. Palaven. 

_ Earth…  _

“Garrus?”

He snapped back to the present. “Sorry. Just thinking.”

Liara nodded. “The baby’s finally asleep.”

“That’s good. She’s amazing, Liara. Really.”

“Thank you.” She moved to sit across from him. “And thank you for throwing this party for her. I know it makes us all feel closer to Shepard.” 

He looked away. “I know she would be honored that you passed on her name. Shepard T’Soni. It has a ring to it.”

“I wasn’t the first, though. Wrex and Eve have, what, twenty named after her, now?”

“Something like that.” He blinked. “Do you remember the last party we had here? Before we went to Earth?”

“Yeah.” She laughed. “Jack was dancing on the tables.”

Garrus managed a weak smile. “Yeah.” Behind him, someone on the couch started snoring a little. “Something wrong? You look a little logy.”

“Just didn’t expect all the nonstop work.” She smiled. “Most asari don’t have their children this young, either. But Samara’s going to stay with us for a while, help me get a grapple on things.”

“What about your dad?”

“Eh—Aethyta isn’t exactly the child-rearing type. But she’s still on assignment from the matriarchs to watch over me, so she won’t be far. She was there when I gave birth.”

“That’s nice.”

Liara opened and shut her mouth. “There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Hmm?”

“Back when I first told everyone I was pregnant, I said that I wasn’t with the father. That they wouldn’t be involved.”

Garrus paused. “Are you saying it’s Samara?”

She held out a hand. “No, no. The father really  _ won’t _ be involved, but...Goddess, this is hard.” She looked down at her lap.

“Whatever you need to say, Liara, just say it.” Something about seeing her apprehensive made his stomach twist into knots. It was an emotion that looked entirely wrong on her face now. Years ago, maybe, but she’d changed too much to be afraid lately.

She looked back up. “Please, try to understand.”

“I will.”

“Don’t speak too soon.” She ran a hand over her fringe. “You were never oblivious. You know I felt the same way about Shepard as you did.”

Garrus nodded slowly. “Right from the start. When we freed you from the Prothean containment on Therum.”

“Yes. And you know what she was like.” She broke off, like she was looking for the words.

“I know. You don’t have to remind me.” He gave a little halfhearted laugh.

Liara let out a big breath. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Reminding you. When—when we were in London. Before we made the push to the beam.”

“When Shepard was saying goodbye.”

“Yes.”

“She knew there was a good chance she wasn’t coming back. Better than any of us, I guess.”

“Yes. I didn’t get the full force of it, until that moment. But when I did…” She trailed off. “I did something bad.” Her eyes got teary.

Garrus waited.

“She and I melded minds again, for the first time since we’d gone up against Saren. I did a DNA scan, to make a copy of her, just in case.” She opened and shut her mouth, and a few tears welled out and ran down her cheeks. 

“Just say it, Liara,” he said again.

Her voice was little more than a whisper. “Shepard is the baby’s father.”

Garrus put a hand over his mouth.

“I haven’t told anyone else. I thought you should be the first.”

He took his hand away from his mouth and rubbed the back of his neck, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t know exactly what he even felt, yet.

“I’m not proud of myself here, Garrus.”

“You should have said something.”

“I wanted to. I spent the last eighteen months growing a secret inside me—”

“Not me. Not us. You should have told Shepard what you were going to do.” 

“I know that. But I couldn’t—” She broke off, then said, “I couldn’t give her the chance to say no to this. To take herself away from all of us.”

A muffled cry came from upstairs. 

“The baby,” Liara said. She wiped at her face and half got up from the chair. “I have to…”

Garrus nodded. “Yeah.” Liara walked out, and her listened to her footsteps up to the next floor.

After a few seconds, another set of steps came in. More measured, more precise.

“Garrus,” EDI said behind him.

He got up and turned to her, then moved to grab a drink from the fridge. “I guess you heard all that?” He poured a glass full of the dextro brandy Tali had brought along for the party.

“Yes, but I had already guessed there was a high chance of Shepard being the baby’s other parent. I shared my assumption with Jeff months ago, but we agreed not to bring it up to you.”

“You should have. It didn’t even occur to me.” He took a big gulp from the glass.

“That is what Jeff thought. Your grief for Shepard was one of the deepest of us all. It clouded you to everything else.”

Garrus finished the drink and poured another one. 

“Do you blame Liara?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Jeff told me, if it turned out to be true, he wouldn’t be surprised. Any of us would have taken an opportunity to preserve her in some form.”

He looked right at her. “I know that, EDI, in my head. I know I should be happy to see part of her live on. But I don’t know how to feel about this. The rest of us can’t rely on just logic.”

“I am sorry if I made you feel worse. It was not my intention.”

“You didn’t.” He took a deep breath and finished the second glass. He saw the blue flash of biotics activating, and a second later, Liara floated slowly down over the balcony, rocking baby Shepard in her arms.

“Oh. EDI,” she said, eyes widening.

Garrus waved a hand. “It’s alright, she knows.”

EDI nodded. “Jeff and I have suspected for a while. He will be happy to learn we were right.”

Shepard fussed in Liara’s arms.

Garrus watched as EDI moved closer, and when she shifted and light bounced off her, the baby stopped to watch.

Liara breathed a sigh. “I think she likes you. Do you want to hold her? You didn’t get a chance earlier.”

“I didn’t think anyone would want to risk my making a mistake,” EDI said. “I’ve downloaded volumes on child care across several species, but only the theory. I have no actual practice.”

“It’s easy. Just copy my position.”

EDI watched for a second and then cradled her arms.

Garrus poured a third drink and watched the baby get used to the feeling of being held by someone made of metal. 

She was still staring silent at EDI in wonder.

Liara walked over and leaned against the island, next to him. They watched without speaking for a while as EDI began mechanically rocking her body back and forth. 

“I don’t know if Shepard would have approved of how you went about it,” Garrus said. “But I can’t imagine she would condemn this.” He looked at Liara.

She nodded. “That’s a start. This baby will have the best support system in the universe. More aunts and uncles than she could ever want. Wrestling krogan cousins, biotic training with a justicar and the infamous Subject Zero. Salarian science and Quarian engineering.”

He nodded, too. “Sounds like she’ll be good enough to rival her father. Shepard would’ve wanted that.” 

 


End file.
